SCP Foundation

SCP-XXXX is a city-building game (similar to SimCity or Cities: Skylines) that allows you to import a map of a real city, and any alterations made in-game will be reflected in real life. The changes don't happen instantaneously, they happen in a way that appears to be non-anomalous - the city council holds a vote, the engineers draw up plans, the bulldozers go to work, and so on - but none of them really know why they're doing it (other than "I'm only doing my job"/"that's just the way things are"). The story isn't really about the object (I know "book/map/thing what changes reality when you change it" is a cliche that doesn't stand on its own), but about the horror of having your home threatened by a force you can't stop ("you can't fight city hall") or even understand.

I.e. we would see the perspective of a community that someone drew a highway through with SCP-XXXX, trying to struggle against this seemingly unstoppable force. However, I'm not sure what would be the best way to show that perspective in the SCP format. I'm also not sure, if the effect of the object doesn't seem anomalous, how the Foundation would have detected it in the first place. Or if it would make more sense to have the creators of the object be Gamers Against Weed, or MC&D, or Dr. Wondertainment, or the Factory, or the Foundation themselves, or what. And is there any plausible reason why the Foundation would test SCP-XXXX on a large city that doesn't make them look ridiculously evil/incompetent?

Any thoughts?

I'm admittedly not sure about this, since it's definitely overpowered (there's no way to actually stop the alterations, even if the city is completely broke or doesn't have the resources to complete the changes?) and the idea of people being anomalously compelled to do these random things is fairly overused.

However, I'm not sure what would be the best way to show that perspective in the SCP format.

Agreed. Might be better to use a tale.

Or if it would make more sense to have the creators of the object be Gamers Against Weed, or MC&D, or Dr. Wondertainment, or the Factory, or the Foundation themselves, or what.

I feel like if MC&D made such a thing, they wouldn't let copies of it be leaked out anywhere. The Factory mass-produces products, and this seems like something way too powerful to make a bunch of. I don't know much about GAW, but this sort of infrastructure thing that could potentially leave thousands homeless doesn't really strike me as their style.

And is there any plausible reason why the Foundation would test SCP-XXXX on a large city that doesn't make them look ridiculously evil/incompetent?

I personally would say no, unless it's something actually helpful like implementing a recycling system. But if they were to test something incredibly harmful and attention-grabbing just for the sake of testing, that would enter pretty quickly into downvote territory for me.

the horror of having your home threatened by a force you can't stop ("you can't fight city hall") or even understand.

I think this is a very real fear, but a tale would be a better way to explore it. You could have the start be a series of vignettes from various people affected by these nonsensical changes, and then have the ending be an excerpt from Foundation documentation about the seizure of the anomalous game from some teenager or something, and there being a proposed decision regarding how to proceed with containing the game.